Method for monitoring at least one aircraft engine

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for monitoring at least one aircraft engine, said method including an acquisition ( 100 ) according to the first and second sets of measurements of respectively endogenous and exogenous variables. The method also includes: a normalization ( 200 ) of the measurements of the first set relative to the measurements of the second set, a generation ( 300 ) of a current model representative of the evolution of the behavior of the engine based on the normalized measurements, a detection ( 400 ) of potential abnormality in the behavior of the engine based on a comparison of the current model with a reference model, a generation ( 500 ) of a maintenance message, a transmission ( 600 ) of said ground message, the acquisition, normalization, generation of a current model, the detection and generation of a maintenance message being made on board the aircraft.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for monitoring at least one aircraft engine, said method including, during at least one flight mission of the aircraft, a step of acquiring measurements according to two sets, a first set of measurements of endogenous variables representative of the behavior of the engine, and a second set of measurements of exogenous variables representative of the acquisition context, said method being characterized in that it further includes, during the flight mission, the following steps:
 a step of normalizing the measurements of the first set relative to the measurements of the second set, 
 a step of generating a current model representative of the time evolution of the behavior of the engine based on the normalized measurements, 
 a step of detecting at least one potential abnormality in the behavior of the engine based on a comparison of the current model with a predefined reference model representative of the behavior of the engine free of abnormality, and 
 if an abnormality is detected, a step of generating a maintenance message including an alert based on the detected abnormality as well as maintenance recommendations or maintenance operations associated with said alert, 
 a step of transmitting the maintenance message to at least one receiving device on the ground, 
 
       the steps of acquiring, normalizing, generating a current model, of detecting and generating a maintenance message being carried out on board the aircraft. 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the normalization step includes:
 a selection and/or a filtering of the measurements of the first set, so as to remove outlier measurements located outside predetermined respective intervals, 
 a normalization of the filtered measurements of the first set relative to the measurements of the second set. 
 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the reference model has been determined based on M current models obtained during flight missions prior to the considered flight mission and during which no abnormality has been detected, for example during flight missions following the set-up of the engine, M being a number greater than or equal to 1. 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 3 , wherein, when M is strictly greater than 1, the reference model is determined based on a mean, a median or a weighting of said M previous current models. 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of detecting at least one potential abnormality includes:
 a determination of a trend of evolution of the current model, 
 a comparison of the trend of evolution of the current model with the time evolution of the reference model, so as to identify a potential deviation of the current model with the reference model, 
 a detection of at least one abnormality based on said potential deviation. 
 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein, when an abnormality is detected, said method includes, before the generation of the maintenance message, a step of confirming and/or materially isolating said abnormality comprising exchanges of information relating to the current model between the aircraft and an entity on the ground. 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the receiving device on the ground is chosen among at least: a PC, a smartphone, a tablet, a drone, or augmented reality glasses. 
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the maintenance message is also transmitted to display means of the cockpit of the aircraft. 
     
     
       9. The method according to  claim 1 , said method including, when an abnormality has been detected and when a message including at least one maintenance operation relating to said abnormality has been generated, a step of estimating the impact of the absence of tracking said maintenance operation on the fuel consumption of the engine. 
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein at least the steps of normalizing, generating a current model and of detecting at least one potential abnormality are iterated for each acquisition of a measurement of at least the first set. 
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein a plurality of flight missions is considered, the measurements of the first and second sets associated with a flight mission being acquired during at least one predetermined phase common to said plurality of flight missions. 
     
     
       12. The method according to  claim 1 , said method being executed periodically every N flight missions, N being a number greater than or equal to 1. 
     
     
       13. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the aircraft includes at least one pair of identical engines, at least the steps of acquiring, normalizing, generating a current model, of detecting at least one potential abnormality, of generating a maintenance message and of transmitting said message being executed for each engine of the pair, the step of detecting at least one potential abnormality associated with an engine further including a comparison of the current models respectively associated with the engines of the pair. 
     
     
       14. A computer program including a set of program code instructions which, when executed by a processor, configure said processor to implement steps of normalizing, generating a current model, of detecting at least one potential abnormality and of generating a maintenance message of a monitoring method according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
       15. A computer-readable recording medium on which a computer program according to  claim 14  is recorded. 
     
     
       16. A processing device intended to be on board an aircraft including acquisition means configured to acquire, during at least one flight mission, measurements according to two sets, a first set of measurements of endogenous variables representative of the behavior of an engine of the aircraft, and a second set of measurements of exogenous variables representative of the acquisition context, said processing device including:
 a normalization module configured to normalize the measurements of the first set relative to the measurements of the second set, 
 a generation module configured to generate a current model representative of the time evolution of the behavior of the engine based on the normalized measurements, 
 a detection module configured to detect at least one potential abnormality in the behavior of the engine based on a comparison of the current model with a predefined reference model representative of the behavior of the engine free of abnormality, 
 a generation module configured to generate a maintenance message including an alert based on a detected abnormality as well as maintenance recommendations or maintenance operations associated with said alert. 
 
     
     
       17. A system for monitoring at least one aircraft engine, said system including:
 acquisition means intended to be on board the aircraft and configured to acquire, during at least one flight mission, measurements according to two sets, a first set of measurements of endogenous variables representative of the behavior of the engine, and a second set of measurements of exogenous variables representative of the acquisition context, 
 a processing device according to  claim 16 , 
 at least one receiving device on the ground, 
 communication means configured to at least transmit a maintenance message generated by the processing device to the receiving device on the ground. 
 
     
     
       18. An aircraft including:
 acquisition means configured to acquire, during at least one flight mission, measurements according to two sets, a first set of measurements of endogenous variables representative of the behavior of the engine, and a second set of measurements of exogenous variables representative of the acquisition context, 
 a processing device according to  claim 16 , 
 communication means configured to at least transmit a maintenance message generated by the processing device to at least one receiving device on the ground.